


The Way Things Were

by Cupcaqe



Category: The Red Line (2019), The Red Line - Fandom
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Gay Couple, Gay Marriage, Liam's POV, M/M, Married Life, Oneshot, Pining, Poor Liam, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 14:10:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19064260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcaqe/pseuds/Cupcaqe
Summary: Liam has a hard time dealing with his feelings for Daniel.





	The Way Things Were

**Author's Note:**

> Set a few years before Harrison's death. 
> 
> First fic I write for the show. Hope you guys like it! And please, let me know what you think. :)

Harrison must’ve gotten the day off. It wasn’t often that Daniel left school this early. But today, as it happened from time to time, Daniel gathered his things, hauled his messenger bag over his shoulder and walked out of his classroom with an impatient stroll. Liam knew this, because he was conveniently standing by Daniel’s classroom door at the time. It wasn’t like he was planning on catching the history teacher in the act. He wasn’t a stalker or anything like that. Liam could at least still say that about himself. He’d just been on his way to his own classroom at the time and thought he’d stop by to say an innocent _hi_.

Distracted as he appeared to be, Daniel didn’t notice Liam until he almost ran into him just outside the door. He even gave a bit of a jump backwards so as not to bump against him.

“Oh. Hey!” Daniel greeted him with a big, bright smile. And he seemed a bit agitated, too. He was in a hurry no doubt.

So Harrison definitely had something to do with his early departure. 

“Leaving early?” Liam asked, reluctant to let the other go just yet.

“Yeah, Harrison’s last surgery scheduled for today got postponed so he has the rest of the day off,” Daniel explained. He was still smiling that happy smile which seemed to widen with each word that left his mouth—the promise of some well-spent time with his loving husband being too much joy to hide.

Liam smiled in response. It was that same, well-practiced smile he always put on when Daniel talked about Harrison. “Good to hear. So he’s picking you up?”

Daniel nodded. “He should be here in a couple of minutes,” he said, arranging the strap of his bag on his shoulder and looking toward the end of the hallway, impatient to be outside so he could wait for his husband to arrive.

But Liam was feeling particularly selfish that day, so he kept on talking in the hopes of having Daniel to himself for a couple more minutes. Harrison could at least grant him that, could he?

Liam nodded, hands in his pockets. “Does Jira know or do you need me to tell her if I see her?”

“No need,” Daniel said quickly, shooting down Liam’s expectations for a prolonged chat. “She’s going to see a movie with Riley after school. We’ll be picking her up later so we can all have dinner. We just wanted to, um…” Daniel trailed off and looked away; his cheeks pinking up.

_Oh._

Liam’s stomach sunk. He was used to the feeling, so he ignored it and let if fade away to that permanent dull ache he’d grown accustomed to. “Well, I don’t want to be holding you back much longer,” he said, defeated. He’d have better luck for a chat when Harrison wasn’t on the near proximity. “Enjoy the rest of your day. And weekend.”

“Thanks. You too,” Daniel said, smiling and reached out to touch Liam’s shoulder briefly in a goodbye gesture. “See you Monday,” he added then, already walking away from him.

“See ya’,” Liam replied solemnly, following Daniel’s form as the man hurried toward the front door with soulful eyes.

With a long sigh, Liam walked back into his classroom to wait for his next class. Once there, he unconsciously placed a hand on the spot in his shoulder where Daniel’s hand had just been. Each passing day it became more and more painful to see the other man walk away from him.

Letting the hand slide down after a few seconds, Liam reluctantly leaned over his desk to peer outside the window. He had a perfect view of the school entrance from there. And as timely as ever, he caught sight of an excited Daniel running into Harrison’s arms. The dull ache became sharper and Liam had to force himself to look away just as they began to kiss.

_Why do I keep doing this to myself?_

The bell rang then and students began to fill the room. Liam welcomed the distraction and put on his teacher mode.

“Good afternoon, class. Take a seat and open up your books in page 63...”

 

That weekend rolled by tortuously slow for Liam. He had a million papers to grade so he at least could distract himself from thinking too much about Daniel, at least to some extent. His treacherous mind still got away from him to provide him with the unwanted images of the much different weekend that the Calder-Brennan family must be having. They’d probably be staying up late that Saturday to catch up on shows on Netflix while chilling on the sofa after dinner. It was cold weather already, so they’d be huddling under a soft blanket all three of them. Maybe they’d even be watching a horror film—much against Daniel’s wishes since he’d claimed on more than one occasion that he would never understand his daughter and husband’s fascination with all the blood— and Daniel would be covering his eyes during the gory bits while Jira teased him about it and Harrison complained about how fake it all looked.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Liam set the papers aside and willed the images away. He really ought to stop doing that.

 

Eventually, time had mercy on him and it was Monday once again: Liam’s favorite day of the week.

“Good morning.” Daniel’s voice startled him out the work he’d been unable to finish during the weekend due to his vivid imagination.

“How is it that I never hear you approach?”Liam said as he smiled up at his coworker, feeling like a teen in love all over again. He still felt the same butterflies in his stomach when he saw Daniel for the first time in the day that he used to feel back when he saw his high school crush, especially after a long weekend.

“You brought me coffee last time so I thought I’d return the favor,” Daniel said and set a steamy coffee mug on his desk before sitting in the desk in front of his.

“Oh?” Liam said in surprise. “Thank you,” he said and took a sip from the hot beverage.

“No problem. And it’s your turn next time,” added Daniel with a playful smirk.

Liam returned the smile. “Consider it done.”

“Had a nice weekend?” He asked then, against his better judgment. Self-preservation was not something he could pull off very well, apparently.

Daniel lifted his eyebrows and sighed. “For the most part. I had a lot of papers to grade so…” he trailed off then, but it wasn’t lost on Liam the content in his tone. Of course he’d had a great weekend. But the great details were not meant to be shared with his coworker. They belonged only to him and Harrison. And for that, Liam was grateful.

“Same.”

“You didn’t do anything fun?” Daniel asked with a tilt of his head. He sounded genuinely interested and Liam couldn’t help the tiny smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Well, you know how passionate I am about grading my students. I had my fair share of fun.”

“Ah, that’s right,” Daniel said through a chuckle. “Well,” he said then, nodding toward the stack of papers on Liam’s desk, “I see your fun hasn’t ended so…I’ll leave you to it.”

With that said, Daniel stood up, did the button of his jacket and headed toward the door with that elegant stroll of his.

“See you later,” Liam said and Daniel turned back to him with a smile.

“Later.”

Liam’s eyes remained on the door several seconds after Daniel’s form disappeared through it. It was rather pathetic how much he craved for these brief, superficial encounters. But maybe that was for the best. Liam doubted he’d be able to handle a deeper friendship with the other man. A closer relationship would mean knowing more about Daniel and Harrison’s life together. Maybe he’d even get invited over for dinner from time to time or to birthday parties and such, where he’d had front row tickets to the perfect life he’d never have.

No. He preferred it the way it was. Staying in the periphery suited him and it was in everyone’s best interest. That way Harrison didn’t run the risk of having a man who wanted his husband so badly, invading his home. And Liam didn’t run the risk of falling even more helplessly in love with Daniel.

With one last look toward the door, Liam shook his head softly, smiled his trade mark sad smile and continued to grade his students.

Yes. Things were fine the way they were.


End file.
